MONZA IS A SPIKE IN THE SCHEDULE THAT MUST BE SCRUPULOUSLY OBSERVED, AN
ENGINE CIRCUIT IN THE OLD TRADITION.
Vettel got a clean
start and was well
out of harm’s way
as bedlam ensued
behind him ...
"
24
GPWEEK.com // 24
GPWEEK.com //
PARTNERS:
F1 >>> SUZUKA
I
t was clear that Red Bull
Racing’s 2012 challenger, the
Adrian Newey-designed RB8,
was the car to beat around
Suzuka’s narrow, twisting
confines from the moment the
pit-lane opened for the start
of FP1 on Friday morning.
While McLaren showed promise, Red
Bull had all the bases covered on a track
that’s so aero-dependant. In addition,
Sebastian Vettel arrived in the land of
the rising sun with momentum on his
side, having won on the floodlit streets of
Singapore. Few would have bet against
the defending champion taking his fourth
consecutive pole position at Suzuka.
Seb was simply untouchable in
qualifying, nabbing pole position with
a 1m30.839s, while team-mate Mark
Webber went second fastest to seal
RBR’s first front-row lockout of the
season.
As I’m sure many drivers, but
particularly Fernando Alonso, Mark
Webber and Nico Rosberg will testify,
pole position was undoubtedly the safest
place to be for the charge down to the S
Curves on the opening lap.
Vettel got a clean start and was well
out of harm’s way as bedlam ensued
behind him. From fifth on the grid,
championship leader Alonso had an
innocuous-looking coming together with
Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus, which caused
a left-rear puncture that sent the Ferrari
driver spearing into retirement and his
points advantage at the top of the drivers’
standings tumbling.
“Today, we were very unlucky; to finish
a race like this at the very first corner
is a real shame,” said a disappointed
Alonso. “Unfortunately, when you start
in the middle of the pack, these things
can happen. What occurred today could
happen to the others next time: the
wheel turns and that’s what races are all
about.”
Out of the second bend, any hopes of
a Red Bull one-two were left in tatters
when the unguided missile, Romain
Grosjean, struck again – he tagged the
right-side of Webber’s car, necessitating
a pit-stop for the Australian who re-joined
at the tail of the field.
After the race, a livid Webber